Knee Injury Fells Floyd / Back out 3-4 weeks with sprained ligament

Gary Swan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PDT, Thursday, August 17, 1995

1995-08-17 04:00:00 PDT Rocklin, Placer County -- The 49ers got a major scare yesterday when fullback William Floyd had to be taken from the practice field on a cart after injuring his right knee in a scrimmage drill. While the news was bad, it could have been a lot worse.

A camp doctor's examination followed by an MRI exam indicated that Floyd had a second-degree sprain of his medial collateral ligament -- an injury that could keep him sidelined for three to four weeks, and most likely will keep him out of the first game of the season on September 3.

Doctor Michael Dillingham, the team orthopedist, is due in Rocklin today for a closer examination of Floyd's injury and the MRI. He will talk to coach George Seifert about a reasonable timetable for bringing Floyd back as the 49ers principal running threat.

The good news is that by all indications Floyd avoided a complete tear of the ligament that could have meant the end of his season. The glossary of the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society calls Floyd's injury a partial ligament tear.

In the meantime, backup Adam Walker will likely fall into the starting fullback role alongside new running back Derek Loville. It figures to be a considerable challenge to the 49ers' offense, which likely will see a variety of five and six defensive back alignments until it can show a running game.

The 49ers were rocked by the Floyd injury.

He is expected to play a role on the offense this season perhaps third in importance only to Steve Young and Jerry Rice. National magazines are headlining stories such as: "Is William Floyd the Next 49er Superstar?"

With the loss of running back Ricky Watters, Floyd is expected to be the focal point in the 49ers' ground game from his spot at fullback, and he lost 10 pounds in the offseason to look and move more like a running back. but beyond that, he has assumed a leadership position that belies his status as a second-year on a veteran team.

His injury yesterday brought the morning padded practice to a stop a half- hour early.

Seifert called the whole practice an ugly one. Floyd went down on a blown play when a fumble caused some players to back off contact and others to pick it up in pursuit of the ball. Someone -- it looked like Ken Norton Jr. but no one was saying for sure -- rolled up the back of Floyd's leg.

Norton said, "I won't know (what happened) until I see the film."

Floyd said, "I was going full speed and I saw the ball go by and I looked at the ball and I guess that's why I got rolled up on. "

"I was really scared because I was in a lot of pain," Floyd said. "I thought my knee was gone at first. It was a sharp pain."

Plummer said, "He was screaming and, you know, William's a tough guy, so you know it was pretty severe.

''I was very concerned because he's the guy that, if memory serves me, really got us jacked up in that (sixth) game last year against Deroit (Floyd's first start) and really turned things around for us. He's an inspirational leader on offense and we can't afford to lose him," Plummer said.

''Right now, we're still trying to find our running game and he's the one area we can count on, and so if he goes down it's going to be -- or would have been -- extremely detrimental to our offense."

"We were saying then we'd be right on target," Deese said. "And the next thing you know (Floyd) gets hurt. I was saying, 'This can't be happening.'

"Everyone is expecting him to do a lot more than he did last year. And it's no secret he is in charge in the backfield right now. For him to go down is a leader going down."

Floyd was able to walk on the knee to the medical cart, and later walked to his car from the locker room with a brace support.

An hour after the injury, Floyd said his knee was not swollen and he could fully extend his leg. He was wearing a brace "more for protection than anything else. To make sure I don't put any weight on it or bend it or anything else."

Seifert looked stunned and distracted at a press briefing after practice.

He said he did not know who would play fullback in the exihibition game against Carolina Saturday night at Candlestick Park. It might be Adam Walker, a special teams player who has been signed by the 49ers 10 times and released nine times in the last few seasons, or it could be Marion Butts.

Seeing Floyd hurt comes as a psychological blow in the last few days of camp, Seifert said.

"It maybe gives it more of a shock," he said. "But to tell you it's going to totally devastate the club, I wouldn't expect it to. I think they've got to be stronger than that."